For the interim, Ojakian can just say he’s ‘president’

Mark Ojakian, left, and Nicholas M. Donofrio, chair of the governing board of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system

Mark Ojakian, the governor’s outgoing chief of staff and incoming leader of the state’s largest public college system, is an interim president, but he doesn’t have to say so when introducing himself.

“Notwithstanding the interim nature of this appointment, the President shall not be required to reference ‘interim’ in connection with his title as President of the CT Board of Regents,” Ojakian’s four-page contract reads.

Ojakian — who was named to lead the 90,000-student Connecticut State Colleges & Universities last week — has signed an employment agreement that guarantees him the job for two years.

The system’s governing board can terminate his contract by giving him 12 months’ notice or if there is cause — provisions his predecessor’s three-year contract also included.

Ojakian takes over as president after the tumultuoustenures and departures of the system’s previous two leaders.

His contract is largely identical to those of former presidents Gregory W. Gray and Robert A. Kennedy, with a few exceptions relating to his compensation. (Read those contracts here and here.)

Ojakian’s pay of $335,000 is less than that of Gray, who was paid $380,000, and Kennedy, who was paid $340,000 and received an additional $20,000 per year in deferred compensation. The system’s governing board, however, is able to boost Ojakian’s pay after his annual review.

Ojakian, a Connecticut native, will not be receiving $25,000 to cover his moving expenses, which his predecessors were eligible to receive.

Ojakian’s contract does not provide him with a $25,000 “unvouchered accommodation account,” intended as an expense account, as Kennedy was.

Ojakian will be provided with a car to drive in place of the convertible he currently drives with custom “OJ” license tags, in reference to his nickname. The college system will also pay for his car insurance, vehicle repairs, health insurance and retirement benefits, just as his predecessors were.

Ojakian’s first day will be Sept. 28.

A spokesman for the system said that there is no separation agreement “at this time” for the outgoing president, whose contract guaranteed his employment through June but who has announced he will leave in December.

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Jacqueline won two first prizes from the national Education Writers Association for her work in 2012 – one in beat reporting for her overall education coverage, and the other in investigative reporting on a series of stories revealing questionable monetary and personnel actions taken by the Board of Regents for Higher Education. In 2016, she was a finalist in the EWA competition for single-topic coverage for her reporting on how schools are funded in Connecticut. Before coming to The Mirror, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.’s Maryland newspaper chains. She has also worked for Congressional Quarterly and the Toledo Free Press. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College. She and her husband, son and two dogs live in Hartford.

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"You can't have a president every one or two years and expect that you're actually going to provide the best service to students and to our state," President Mark Ojakian said during a recent wide-ranging interview in his Hartford office. "You just can't do that."